This past weekend was work weekend at our hunting property. My brothers, their families and I always try to get together before the gun deer season to clean the shack, maintain equipment, make wood and check deer stands. This year was tough finding a weekend to do this (everyone has so many other commitments which happens when families get older), but we managed one day all together. I, being the oldest and retired, was able to happily stay on a few extra days and enjoy the peace and gentle quietness of the forest and, for a change, the twinkleness of the night skies and an waxing full moon.
While there, of course, I had to take photos of my favorite American Beech trees. Reference my 2016 post American Beech (Fagus grandifolia). The trees don’t have quite the same color this year, but they’ve grown immensely. What you think?
Beautiful!
I do agree with you, Kim. And, it’s one of the few trees that hold their leaves all winter. That’s an extra perk!
Is the American Beech appropriate for Southern Wisconsin? Should it be planted along with other trees or does it do well by in self in an urban yard?
Hello, Carol. It is nice to hear from you. The American Beech tree will grow well anywhere in Wisconsin except really wet areas. Although it doesn’t like compacted soil, because it has shallow roots, you should be able to plant it in an area of your yard which hasn’t been trampled extensively by excavating equipment. It likes well-drained, slightly acidic, moist soil.
Because American Beech trees can grow so very tall and nearly as wide (80+ ft tall and up to 80 ft wide) it actually does well as a specimen tree. Like the Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), its branches begin low on the trunk and project horizontally giving it an exquisite look. It needs sunlight, but does not do well in hot sunny locations so some filtered light works or some shade during the hot afternoons.
Although I haven’t seen this in our woods, my research indicates beeches are prone to suckering. I have a feeling the deer keep the suckers browsed. One caution, however, would be to keep the trunk protected from the critters. We used to cover our young sapling trunks already in September to keep them from being rubbed by new deer antlers; winter, to guard against rodents. See example below.
Note: always use white-colored material to deflect the sun’s rays when covering tree trunks. The hot winter sun can bake young tree trunks when covered with black-colored material.